Eagle Pass Heliskiing

4 Days Skiing With Eagle Pass

In January I got to go ski with Eagle Pass, a helicopter skiing operation out of Revelstoke, BC. I had been a couple years prior, but only for a day or 2. I went with my dad, Brian, and his two friends, Shams and Rick.

Our guide was Trevor Gavura, who did an amazing job of keeping us safe as well as finding us some great turns. All of the guides with Eagle Pass are certified by either the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, Canadian Ski Guide Association, or Canadian Avalanche Association. These guides have lots of experience in the terrain and are knowledgable about avalanches and the general snowpack.

We stayed at the Eagle Pass lodge that they just recently built. The lodge was absolutely beautiful and was a great place to come back to after a long and exciting day of skiing. There was a nice bar area where they served snacks after the day as well as a hot tub.

On our first day, we did our training at 7:30am. We were provided with an avalanche beacon, shovel, probe, radio, and a BCA Float avalanche backpack. I was really happy that they provided us with avalanche backpacks. Being in the backcountry in potential avalanche terrain it just made me feel safer having it. I never felt unsafe, but I did like that extra safety feature.

Not only did we do an avalanche rescue practice we also did a tree well rescue. Apparently, tree wells have been a bigger problem than avalanches in Canada. The tree wells get so deep that you can get completely buried in them.

Our first day of skiing was amazing. We had fresh powder and we stayed in the steep trees for the majority of our runs. We went to their “South Cran” region and hung out there. By the end of the day I was exhausted. Having not done a ton of powder skiing before getting to Canada my legs were feeling it.

Our second day was a storm day. This lead to issues because the freezing point was at an altitude that was higher than we were flying. The helicopter picked up ice on the blades. We could tell that this was an issue because on our first and second run we were picking up ice on our goggles and our backpacks.

Our guide and our pilot, Seb, made the safe decision to call it a day and go back in. Although we were bummed about not being able to ski we were glad that they picked the safe option and did not risk it. We went to The Eddy, which is a restaurant in town and got Caesars and some poutine instead!

The Caesar: A Bloody Mary, but better!! It is made using the same ingredients as a Bloody Mary, but you use Clamato juice instead of just tomato juice. I know it may sound gross and unappealing, but don’t knock it till ya try it! I promise it will be your new favorite.

Day 3 and 4 we were able to get into the backcountry and enjoy the whole day skiing.

Eagle Pass really made the whole experience fun and enjoyable. You start every morning off with a great breakfast. You go out and ski till about 12:30. They bring your lunch out with you into the field so you do not have to waste any time. They provide you with sandwiches, wraps, soup, tea, cookies, and other fun desserts. We definitely did not go hungry on this trip!

You get back to the lodge at around 3pm and rest up for the next day. In their lodge they also have demo skis that you can rent out. I was happy about this because I ended up not liking the skis that I had brought. Lucky for me they had a pair of DPS 112s that were perfect!

The Monashees are such beautiful mountains and just being out there made the experience amazing. From steep trees to pillows to vast alpine, Eagle Pass really has it all.